| Summary: | Metronidazole (MNZ) is an effective agent that has been employed to eradicate Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). The emergence of broad MNZ resistance in H. pylori has affected the efficacy of this therapeutic agent. The concentration of MNZ, especially the mutant prevention concentration (MPC), plays an important role in selecting or enriching resistant mutants and regulating therapeutic effects. A strategy to reduce the MPC that can not only effectively treat H. pylori but also prevent resistance mutations is needed. H. pylori is highly resistant to lysozyme. Lysozyme possesses a hydrolytic bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan and a cationic dependent mode. These effects can increase the permeability of bacterial cells and promote antibiotic absorption into bacterial cells. In this study, human lysozyme (hLYS) was used to probe its effects on the integrity of the H. pylori outer and inner membranes using as fluorescent probe hydrophobic 1-N-phenyl-naphthylamine (NPN) and the release of aspartate aminotransferase. Further studies using a propidium iodide staining method assessed whether hLYS could increase cell permeability and promote cell absorption. Finally, we determined the effects of hLYS on the bactericidal dynamics and MPC of MNZ in H. pylori. Our findings indicate that hLYS could dramatically increase cell permeability, reduce the MPC of MNZ for H. pylori, and enhance its bactericidal dynamic activity, demonstrating that hLYS could reduce the probability of MNZ inducing resistance mutations.
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